The Unsealed Path
by Karg42
Summary: Uchiha Itachi tried to capture Naruto sooner then planned. After being placed in Tsukuyomi, Naruto is forced to unseal the Kyuubi to prevent himself from going insane. [M for language and violence]
1. A Path Opened

Welcome to my first fic! Enjoy it or don't my dinner taste just as good either way. Please read and review.

On another note, I don't own Naruto or anything else I might allude to in this story. If I did own Naruto, I would make sure that none of my characters were genderly confused.

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A short blond boy was running away from a large village as fast as he could, a large scroll attached to his back. He had a smile plastered on his face. He may have failed the genin test, but Mizuki-sensei had given him a way out. After all, how hard could it be to learn a single jutsu? There was no way that he couldn't finish in time. He looked at the map Mizuki-sensei had given him. At the break-neck pace he was going he would be there with plenty of time to spare. Maybe he would have time to learn eight or nine jutsus. That would be awesome! Having arrived at the place marked on the map, he pulled the scroll off his back. With his ridicules grin still on his face he opened the scroll. A thought forced it's way into his head. It wasn't quite foreign, but it clearly wasn't his own. 

_Read them all first, then try and learn one. That way, even when I have to give it back, I can still try and do the other ones! _Continuing to grin, he opened the scroll and began the most serious cramming session of his life.

"It's all over…" Iruka had finally found the young boy. Why did he have to pull something like this? This exceeded some stupid prank; this was a serious offence! So it was a bit of a surprise when Naruto seemed completely unabashed at being found.

"Got me already? You're quick, sensei. I only learned one jutsu. But I did finish reading the scroll. There is some really cool stuff in here!" Iruka could only stare at the boy, puzzled. Didn't he realize how much trouble he was in?

"So, Iruka-sensei, I show you my amazing new jutsu and I graduate, right? Once I learn a jutsu from this scroll, I pass, right?" Again, the chuunin was reduced to staring blankly.

"Who told you that?"

"Mizuki-sensei! He gave me a map, told me where to find the scroll, when to be here and everything! So do I show you now?" This snapped Iruka out of his stupor. Why would Mizuki say something like that? There was no reason, unless…

"I see you've found our little hideaway," a voice from above snickered. Suddenly, a small shower of shuriken started to rain down. Iruka looked on in horror as they flew at Naruto's unprotected back. Worse, Naruto didn't seem to realize the danger he was in. It didn't even look as if he had realized the Mizuki had showed up yet. Iruka had to take action. He grabbed an orange clad shoulder and thrust it out of the way. Using his other hand, Iruka pulled a kunai from his vest and began to deflect as many of the stars as he could. Despite his best efforts, several shuriken had found their marks; one in Iruka's defending arm and two more in his poorly defended legs.

The treacherous nin hopped down from his attacking position. He threw his head back, laughing. He seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. He began to remove a rather large throwing star from his back. A demon star that when place right could easily remove a man's head.

"Naruto, the scroll please." Iruka's eyes widened.

"No Naruto! Don't do it! He's a traitor! Give him nothing!"

Mizuki chuckled. "Naruto...even if you've read what's in there, it won't mean anything. I can show you what it means..."

Iruka clenched his fists. "Naruto, don't listen to him!"

"Say Naruto...I just thought of something..."

"He lies, Naruto!"

"We didn't teach you what really happened twelve years ago, did we? When the demon fox attacked? So you wouldn't know, would you?" Naruto began to feel a sinking feeling in his gut. What did this have to do with anything?

"What do you mean?"

"He lies, Naruto!"

"Shut up, Umuino! You've said that already. Now, going back to our history lesson, something happened, Naruto. Something big. So big that, since then, it has been taboo to speak of it, epically to you. Would you like to hear what it is?"

"Naruto, run!"

"What is it? What couldn't I know?"

"Oh, nothing important. It's only that you are the nine-tailed demon fox, Uzumaki. You are the Kyuubi!" Mizuki tilted his head back, showing his maniac smile yet again. The look on Naruto's face was so pleasing. How good it made him feel to know that he was the one to break this boy.

Naruto stood, shocked. That can't be right. How could it be? He wasn't a demon. He was Naruto. Just Uzumaki Naruto. Nothing more…

"Haven't you ever wondered why you are hated, Uzumaki? Why know one will look at you without picturing you as a corpse? It's because you were the one who attacked our village twelve years ago! You killed our people! You kill Iruka's parents and left him an orphan! He hates you! They all hate you! They hate you for what you did and what you are!"

Naruto. Just Naruto. Nothing more. Not a demon. Just Naruto….

"Have you wondered why they hate you? Why you've always been on the outside? It's because you're a monster! You killed the Yondaime! It was you! You killed our hero! You're a monster! Just a savage mon…" Mizuki's rant was cut off as a kunai flew at his head.

"Naruto, I want you to run. Run to the village and tell others where we are. What are you waiting for? Go!" Iruka had stood up and was preparing to fight. Naruto was his student and he would be damned if he let anything happen to him.

Naruto. Just Naruto. Nothing more. Nothing less. Naruto. Naruto. Naruto…

"Come with me, Naruto! Together, we can destroy Konoha and all the people who scorned you! With the help of that scroll, we can kill all those who hate you!" Mizuki began to advance towards the frightened boy. Another kunai stopped his advance.

"You're fight is with me, Mizuki." Iruka had walked in between the two despite his freely bleeding leg. He glared at the traitor with all the hate in his body held. Mizuki smiled in spite of this.

"You don't belong here, Naruto. You don't need to be surrounded by people that despise you. Come with me and destroy Konoha! We will be hailed as heroes! Think of it, Uzumaki. Think of what we could do. Just give me the scroll, and we can do anything!"

"Naruto is not the demon you think he is! He is not the Kyuubi. He is my student and friend, Uzumaki Naruto! Don't you dare forget that, Mizuki!" Mizuki couldn't help but laugh.

"Your friend? Please, he killed your whole family!"

"He didn't do that! That was the Kyuubi, and Naruto is not the Kyuubi! They are two different minds!"

Naruto. Naruto. Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. Just Naruto. Just Naruto. Just Uzumaki…

"Naruto is a kind and loving person! He doesn't want to see the people close to him to be hurt! He isn't a monster like you, Mizuki!"

"This is getting tiresome. I think I'm going to kill you now." A large blade of metal flashed threw the air followed by a distinct whirling noise. The demon shuriken was heading straight for Iruka's neck and there was no way for him to avoid it and it was too strong to block. Iruka willed his weakened legs to move, but they remained frozen, blood trickling down.

I am Naruto. I am Naruto. I am Uzumaki Naruto. I am Uzumaki Naruto! I am Uzumaki Naruto and I am not a demon! Iruka-sensei, I am Naruto!

Suddenly, Naruto appeared in front of Iruka. Iruka stared in shock as the giant shuriken drove itself into Naruto's small body.

"Naruto, no!" Suddenly, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. As quickly as the one disappeared, countless more appeared around them. And all of these Narutos had the exact same expression; malice towards a certain traitor chuunin.

"No one hurts Iruka-sensei. If you even try, I'll kill you!" With that, numerous blond boys charged the shocked man, beating him into the ground. Iruka stared in shock. Those were all solid clones. He had to smile at his student. Had he now surpassed him? It was quite possible, and from the looks of Mizuki, it might just be the case.

"Oi! Naruto come here and close your eyes!" Naruto complied, but it couldn't be more obvious that he hated being left in the dark. He felt his goggles being lifter off his head and some else replacing them.

"Okay, open your eyes." Naruto opened them and saw something strange about his teacher. He placed it in a second. His headband was missing. Naruto's hand shot up to his forehead and felt the cold metal plate. His smile grew as he leaped at Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei!" Iruka winced a little, but hugged Naruto gently. Things were going to be alright.

"As touching as this is, I'm sorry to say that I'm going to have to interrupt." Iruka's eyes darted towards the source of the words. What he saw made his blood run cold. Standing there was a tall, young, and pale man with a straw hat, garbed in a black cloak with red clouds covering it. On his head he wore a headband similar to Naruto's except that the leaf symbol had been crossed out, signifying that he was a missing nin. What had scared Iruka was not the clothing, oh no. It was the man's whirling red eyes. The Sharingan. That meant it could only be one man.

"Uchiha Itachi…" Iruka spoke with a mixture of awe and fear in his voice. The pale man smiled slightly. Apparently he had left an impression when he left Konoha.


	2. Deal with a Demon

Read and review. You know the drill.

I don't own Naruto or anything else I might allude to in this story. If I did own Naruto, I would make sure that none of my characters were genderly confused.

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"Uchiha Itachi…" Iruka spoke with a mixture of awe and fear in his voice. The pale man smiled slightly. Apparently he had left an impression when he left Konoha.

"Naruto, we need to run. Now!" Iruka staggered up to his feet, fully prepared to run for his life. Then he made his mistake. He turned his back to the Uchiha as he started to run. With a single, well-place kunai Itachi ended all of Iruka's movements. It had embedded itself at the base of Iruka's neck, not deep enough to be fatal but enough to keep him from doing anything that involved moving for a while. The pale man smiled to himself, basking in his own display of control. He had just seen what this boy could do when the man's life was threatened. If he was killed then the child would show exactly what he was capable of. As of now, Naruto was planted to the spot. He turned his head to the pale man, a look of pure terror on his face. Itachi smiled lightly. He made sure to stay human enough so that he could enjoy the suffering of others.

"You're Uzumaki, is that right?" The blond boy remained stiff as a statue, but Itachi could see it in the boy's eyes. This boy was a Jinchuriki as sure as he was a member of Akatsuki. Itachi felt something akin to pride in his gut. He hadn't expected to find an opportunity to grab the boy until after the chuunin exams and here he was, served on a silver platter.

"You're coming with me, Uzumaki." The blond boy finally seemed to have shaken his fear off. Naruto could tell Iruka was alive and as safe as could be under the circumstances. Knowing this, he focused instead on the man with red eyes in front of him.

"I'm not going anywhere. I think I'm going t' kick your sorry ass out of Konoha!" Naruto started to form the seal for his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu when he saw something odd happen to the pale man's eyes. They were spinning. In fact, they looked like spinning pinwheels.

"Tsukuyomi."

Naruto's world began to spin. The sky was turning from the grayish blue of night to the sick red color of blood. A sick, revolting, spinning feeling was going through the Jinchuriki's gut. Naruto found his arms strapped down to pieces of wood. When Naruto looked closer, he saw that he was strapped up to a cross. He raised his head and saw the same pale man, only now he was holding a sword.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. This is the world of Tsukuyomi. In the world of Tsukuyomi I control space and time, even the mass of objects." Having said that, Itachi plunged his sword under Naruto's ribs. The pain hit instantly. Naruto screamed out in pain and the scream turned into a roar. Itachi removed his sword. Naruto looked down at where he was stabbed what he saw shocked him. There was no mark. Not even his clothing was marked.

"What is this? Was that an illusion?" Naruto barely got the words out of his mouth as Itachi plunged his katana back into his gut.

"You should not underestimate this just because it is an illusion." A second Itachi had appeared. This one also plunged his blade deep into Naruto's gut. Again, Naruto screamed out in pain. His torturers press harder on their blades, causing more and more pain. Naruto could feel them pierce his kidney and yet knew that his kidney was fine. Naruto raised his head and was shocked again. He could see Itachi piercing his body, but it wasn't his body! He could see himself, strapped to a cross, having his kidneys impaled, so that one couldn't be him, could it? Suddenly, he felt another blade slide its way in between his ribs. He turned his head and saw a third Itachi, this one with his own blade sticking into his ribs. Itachi spoke without moving his mouth. Instead, the sound seemed to come from everywhere.

"I told you, I control space. I can make as may of you as I wish, each experiencing its own pain." Naruto forced his eyes open to see dozens of himself with katanas sticking out of them, each one held by Itachi. Naruto could feel the pain of the dozens of him as well as his own, all of them screaming for relief. Itachi did not remove his blades; rather, he pushed on them further, driving the tips even further into Naruto's weakened body. Naruto had to force himself to think.

_This is only and illusion. This isn't real._ Itachi appeared again, pressing yet another blade into the orange fabric.

"Don't underestimate this just because it's an illusion. This pain is not fake. How long will you mind be able to withstand this? We have seventy-two hours to find out, Uzumaki." Naruto felt rather than saw multiples of himself appearing all around this false world. He knew it was coming and the realization that he couldn't do anything to stop it made it hurt all the more. He felt a thousand blades pierce a thousand bodies. He felt a thousand ribs crack and a thousand lungs pierced. He felt the pain of a thousand tortured souls. He could feel it all and did the only thing he could do. He screamed. He released a wail of his thousand tortured bodies, releasing their pain and anguish into the air. Itachi removed his thousand katanas and stepped back.

"Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds left, Uzumaki." Narutos' eyes opened wide. All of that had happened in a single second? If that was the case, he wouldn't last five minutes in this sick world. His eyes widened even further has he saw thousands of Itachi's lower the points of their blades all aimed directly at his hearts. The anticipation was deadly. The pain was worse. Death couldn't reach him here, and he would suffer. He would suffer, and he didn't know why. Why was he doing this? He didn't even know him! Why does he want to torture him so badly?

**I think that would be my fault.**

Naruto's eyes opened wide. He was hearing voices in his head. Was this another layer of this Tsukuyomi place?

**This isn't a part of his damned world, kit. This is our world. Come visit.**

Naruto felt his mind being pulled back into a smaller portion of his own mind. It was a strange experience, but not an unpleasant one. Maybe that was because the pain had lessoned to a shallow cut here instead of the blatant scourge he had felt before. Taking in his surroundings, Naruto saw some of the strangest things. It appeared as if he was in a small tunnel with trace amounts of water on the ground. Looking up, he saw that the fluorescent lights were flickering as if they were not well kept. Moss and other fungi grew from the walls on either side of him. He noticed all of this, but perhaps the most important thing was straight in front of him. At the end of the tunnel was a gleaming red light. It seemed alive, waving and twitching, back and forth, back and forth.

Naruto. Just Naruto. Nothing more. Nothing less. Just Naruto.

Naruto walked towards the light. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, only enhancing the prickly feeling he already felt. His arm began to spasm uncontrollably, as if his mussels needed to release stress that they were building up. Full of fear, Naruto walked up to the glimmering red light. Step after step he progressed, each earned foot of ground taking more willpower than the last. What could he find in the depths of his own mind? Something outside of himself? The very thought was disheartening, but he continued on none the less. He was reaching the end of the tunnel and the ground seemed to be made of tar it was so hard to walk. Naruto had to concisely lift his foot and concisely place it down in front of him. The red light was closer then ever and the tunnel was about to stop. Naruto walked into a large room.

He looked around. It looked quite unspectacular. The walls seemed the same, as did the floor and ceiling. The only thing that made this room interesting was a large gate at the back of the room. Naruto felt a precognition of fear, but decided he needed to know what this was. He remembered Mizuki's speech and could help but dwell on it.

Naruto. Just Naruto. Not a demon. Not a demon. I am Naruto.

Naruto walked up to the large gate. For some reason, Naruto couldn't find anything keeping the gate shut. There was no key hole, no cross bar, not even a lock and chain. There was, however, a small slip of paper over halfway up the gate. It appeared to hold the two gates together and had some character on it. What did it say? Naruto walked closer and closer until he could see it.

"Seal..." Naruto unknowingly spoke aloud. A seal in his mind. What could that possibly be for? The young boy felt he might know the answer, but he didn't like it.

Not just Naruto. Not just Naruto. I am Naruto! I am! But not just Naruto.

"Kyuubi!" Naruto screamed, calling to the beast. If he was here, Naruto wanted to talk to him, face to face. He wanted to look into the eyes of the one who had made his life a hell. He wanted to speak to the one that made the world hate him. He wanted to speak to him. He wanted to see him. He wanted to tear him to pieces. He wanted to be free of the beast. He wanted blood.

"Kyuubi! Come show your ugly face to me, damn you!" The red light intensified and grew. The red wisps in the air turned to red whips, slashing at anything and everything. Naruto was blown back by the ferocity of it. Naruto saw something begin to walk towards the gate. It was large and had big eyes. Its fur was a crimson red. Its giant paws looked capable of splitting a man in half. Its teeth were large and shape, appearing dangerous enough to crush boulders. Worst of all, the red light was pouring off this giant fox. This giant demon fox.

Not Naruto. Not Naruto. Not Naruto. I am not Naruto. Iruka-sensei I am sorry I am not Naruto. Iruka-sensei what am I? What the hell am I?

"Welcome, kit. What do you think of your mind?" Naruto looked up into the beast's eyes. What he saw surprised him even more. Wonders never ceased. The eyes of the beast were not what he had imagined. Naruto didn't see malice, hate, scorn, or anything of the sort aimed at him. What he saw instead was akin to what you would expect to see in the eyes of a relative that you haven't seen in years. It appeared to be a caring look, if not a gentle one.

"Kyuubi?" The beast smiled.

"Hai. I am Kyuubi, the greatest and most powerful of the Bijuu. And you are Uzumaki Naruto, are you not?" A pained look shot across Naruto's eyes.

"I thought so, but that doesn't appear to be the case. It seems that I am a demon." The fox snorted.

"Don't insult me, kit. You couldn't be a demon if you tried. No, I am the demon and you a sheer human. Don't compare us, kit." A spark went off behind Naruto's eyes. Not one and the same? They were different? They were different! Kyuubi was the demon, not him. It wasn't him!

I am Naruto. I am Naruto! I am Naruto and I am not alone. I am not alone in my mind. I am not alone Iruka-sensei!

"Kit, how much longer do you have in that false world?" Naruto winced slightly. He had forgotten that nightmare despite the constant feelings of pain in his gut. He couldn't go back there and maintain his sanity, not alone anyways. It would only be a matter of time until his already fragile mind snapped. What would happen then? Would he become a living shell with no mind, or would he lose all ties to reality, rampaging and killing everything in his path? Or maybe he would simply break, doing whatever was asked of him by this pale man.

"I have almost three days, demon. Why do you ask?" The demon's smile seemed to turn into a playful smirk.

"Because you can't handle it, kit. Twelve years of mental stress accompanied by an eternity of torture? You are going to break, kit. Look at the mess around you. This isn't a healthy mind. If this continues, your mind will break and this sewer along with it. If that happens, I disappear forever." Naruto looked around. It certainty didn't look like it was in perfect working order. But could it break?

"I wonder how long your mind will be able to withstand this." Kyuubi repeated what Itachi had said in that other world. The blond boy saw the truth in these statements. He would break before time ran out. He couldn't take the pain. He would snap.

"Why can't I wait it out in here? It doesn't hurt nearly as much here." Kyuubi smiled at the boy's reasoning, however flawed it might be.

"You can't wait here because time doesn't pass here. You could wait the three days here and still not have any time pass in the Tsukuyomi. But you knew that, didn't you?" Naruto dropped his head onto his chest. He knew it was true. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew none the less. He was out of ideas. His mind would break.

"Tell me demon, what do I do? How can we both exist throughout this suffering?" The beast grinned his homicidal grin. The kit had finally got to the root of things.

"When your mind breaks we're both gone, so I suggest a compromise." His interest peaked; Naruto asked the beast to continue.

"Here is what I suggest: you cut the seal and I will take large portions of the pain."

"No. I'm not letting you out."

"Let me finish. We have three days in this genjutsu. We take turns as the dominate mind and receive all the pain during that duration. This will prevent both of our deaths. After we escape, we take turns as the dominate mind. I can even use a henge on myself so people won't confuse the two of us. I will tell no one our secret and expect the same from you. Also, I won't do anything drastic without your approval. It would be hard to reside in this mind if your every thought was bent on destroying me. Now that you have heard the conditions, what do you say, kit?"

Naruto was left speechless. It might be his only way out, but to let the demon take control of his body seemed insane. Yondaime Still, he did have the beast's assurances.

"Tell me, demon, how binding is the word of a demon?" The grin on the fox's face never faltered.

"I swear it on my honor; I will do as I say. The honor of a demon is something never to be tampered with. I would sooner lose my life than my pride. I believe the same goes for you, kit." Now they both shared a grin. Naruto's pride and honor would never be broken. Maybe they weren't so different. Maybe he could work with this beast. And maybe he could be of some use, preferably in killing this bastard that had trapped his mind.

The orange clad boy walked up to the gate. He looked up and saw that the sea was just too far out of his reach. He jumped and leaped and eventually grasped onto the bottom of the seal. It came off with a loud tear and Naruto fell on his ass. The gates, rather then swinging open, seemed to dissipate. The gate broke into a billion tiny pieces that blew away into the depths of the sewers. The towering fox hesitantly stepped forward.

"Freedom…" Kyuubi had dreamed of this day, had dreamed for twelve years. Now, he was freed.

"Oi! Would you mind shrinking a bit? It's kind of crowded in here." Kyuubi smiled. The streams of red light, or chakara, as Naruto now saw it for what it was for, spun around the large beast, completely incasing it. When the red light flew off, it left a considerably different Kyuubi. The beast had a body just like Naruto's with a few discrepancies. Instead of blond hair, it was the black of coal. His whisker-marks had disappeared all together. Also, the hideous orange suit was replaced by a loose pair of black shinobi pants and a blood red button-up shirt. Oddly, the buttons appeared to have been shaved off, keeping the shirt open to reveal a loose black shirt. Everything else seemed to be exactly the same, besides the eyes. Instead of the bright blue, the Kyuubi's eyes were black. Naruto couldn't tell where the iris ended and the pupil began. The blond boy continued to stare at the newly dressed demon, wondering if they could be confused as brothers.

"Why do you look so much like me, Kyuubi?"

"The more alike we appear, the less likely someone will be able to tell the difference if they inspect the henge. Plus it takes less energy if you make fewer bodily changes." Ky was flexing his hands the whole time, as if he was still trying to learn how to use them.

"Well, then, I guess it's my turn." Kyuubi walked past Naruto and down the tunnel in the direction that Naruto had come from. Naruto remain behind, the constant feeling of pain beginning to disappear. He watched the Kyuubi walk towards his pain and couldn't help but think what Iruka-sensei would think of this arrangement.

I am Naruto. I am also Kyuubi. I am both and I am neither. I am never alone. Never alone again.

* * *

"Seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-seven seconds." Itachi ran more and more blades through the blond boy's body and listened to his screams. As of recently they had become more animal like in nature. Itachi shrugged it off. There was nothing he could do in Tsukuyomi that could harm him. He ran his blade through his body again. 

Naruto watched this all from the room of his mind. When the Kyuubi had gone from his sight, the walls of the room changed. Instead of the wet and moldy walls of the sewer he saw what the Kyuubi was seeing right now. It was like a large movie with peripheral vision. He could see and hear the Kyuubi suffer and felt a small bit of gratification. If the Kyuubi took the bulk to the suffering, they would be about even. Not quite, but they would be a lot closer than they were. Still, Naruto looked on with morbid fascination as the pale man named Itachi ran more and more blades through his body. This would continue for three days…

* * *

"Three more seconds and you still haven't broken. Frankly, I'm impressed, Uzumaki. I didn't think you would last a day. I don't think I can break you in these last three seconds. So instead, I'm just going to hurt you a much as I can." Naruto's body resembled a pin cushion. There were countess swords sticking out of his countless bodies. Both Naruto and Kyuubi were mentally exausted. Years of imprisonment had left the demon weakened and Naruto hadn't developed any mental barriers to pain before being trapped. Somehow, the pain never grew old. Every cut seemed to hurt just as much, if not more, then the previous one. It never dulled, never curved, never became less then a gut-wrenching shot of pain. Naruto was up to bat and felt as if his false body was emptied of blood. It had been three days, but it had felt like an eternity. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to days, days to months, and months to years. Naruto and Kyuubi had both needed breaks to restore their minds and took the time to talk from time to time. Kyuubi learned more about the inner workings of Naruto's mind and Naruto learned things about the past, such as why the demon had attacked Konoha. 

Flashback

The human and beast sat cross-legged in what they had come to call the 'conference room.' They had been trading small bits of information, but nothing of major importance. Naruto had wanted to ask this, but had held it back until now.

"Kyuubi, why did you attack our village twelve years ago?"

"It's simple, kit. I was fulfilling my end of a bargain."

"Explain."

"The fourth Hokage wasn't the first who had learned how to seal demons. A close friend, and 'till now my only friend, had been sealed into a young women. Demons don't make friends very easily, so we try and protect the ones we have with our lives. Think of it like a code of chivalry. Anyways, I cut a deal with the Jinchuriki my friend was sealed into. She was a cloud nin at the time and was at war with Konoha, or more specifically with the Hyuugas. She said she would sacrifice her life to release my friend if I destroyed the Hyuuga Clan. I agreed instantly, knowing there would be no way I could pull my friend from the cloud nin without risking my friends safety. I tried and failed thanks to the Forth." Kyuubi had a reminiscent look on his face. It appeared as if he was remembering old times, both good and bad. Naruto's heart went out to him. If anything happened to one of his few friends, Naruto would do just about anything to get them back. Kill everyone in Konoha to protect the few people whom he cared for? Abso-fucking-lutely.

"I see. Then I forgive you." The demon's head shot up with a look of disbelief on his face.

"What?"

"I said I forgive you. I would protect my friends with my life. I can't blame you if you would do the same. I despise you for attacking us and killing our friends and family, but I can understand why you did it. Actions with reasons can be forgiven, but mindless rage cannot be. Wars have heros on both sides and are started by a few evil men; most of the troops are blameless. You had a reason to fight, so I will not hold it against you. If you had attacked Konoha just because you wanted to, you would never be forgiven and chased to the edge of hell. Now, you are still seen as an enemy, but and enemy with a cause, like us. An enemy with the desire to protect." Naruto grinned at his new-found friend. Kyuubi hesitantly smile back.

"Yes. The desire to protect does unite us, doesn't it?" The demon reached over and ruffled the kid's hair in the way an elder brother would, not gently but still with caring.

"Yes, our desires unite us…"

End Flashback

"This is the last second of suffering, Uzumaki. I'll try and make it memorable." Itachi's blade changed ever so slightly. He plunged it into the small body and was rewarded with a blood curling scream. Itachi smiled as he pulled a lever at the base of his katana. The tip of his sword split into, bending in two different directions. One went up and pierced the boy's lunges and the other twisted itself amongst his intestine. The scream grew louder. Itachi couldn't withhold his smile as he began to turn the sword, completely twisting and deforming Naruto's innards. Naruto yelled. He screamed. He howled. He felt pain on a level that no one should know of least they were dead. He felt the pan and knew that he was perfectly safe so long as he didn't lose his mind. His eyes rolled up to the top of his head, black static playing at the edge of his vision.

The sky began to shift. Shards of the red sky fell, revealing the grey blue of night that Naruto had left. His countless bodies moved back into one. The numerous Itachi's returned to a single one as well. Naruto fell to the ground, unconscious. Three continues days of pain poured into a single second takes a lot out of someone. Iruka looked in horror. One second Naruto was threatening Itachi, the next he fell to the ground, shacking in pain.

"Damn you, Itachi! What did you do to him?" Iruka knew it was foolish to draw attention to himself, but he couldn't let such a terrible deed go unannounced. Itachi turned his head and looked at the fallen chuunin. He answered coldly and completely devoid of emotion.

"I cut him up for three days without reprieve." Iruka looked shocked. That wasn't human! No one could do such a thing and speak about it with the same tone of voice as if he was talking about the weather. Itachi staggered towards the fallen boy. Damn, he should have brought Kisame. Using Tsukuyomi takes a lot out of him. He labouredly lifted the small blond boy onto his shoulder.

"Good-bye, shinobi. Send my brother my regards." With that, the Uchiha disappeared from view.


	3. In Which We Train

Alright, here's the deal. I'm going to be gone for the next week or two for spring break, so I worked my ass off and got this chapter done early. Don't expect this to become a habit as don't plan to update more than once a week. On another note, I'm looking for a beta reader. I've gotten sick of re-reading every chapter over and over again when my spelling a grammar sucks to begin with. If you are interested, e-mail me from the link in my profile and include your e-mail address so I can get back to you. Finally, I'm wondering if I should introduce any pairs and if so, who? Feel free to leave suggestions as long as you know I might not use it.

Read and review. You know the drill.

I don't own Naruto or anything else I might allude to in this story. If I did own Naruto, I would make sure that none of my characters were genderly confused.

* * *

Naruto's eyes opened, but it was not Naruto who opened them. Kyuubi was looking at his surrounding area. He had never been in a shinobi hospital first hand, so this was quite a new experience for him. The body was in perfect working order. All the pain the two had experienced had been purely in their mind, but it had hurt like hell then. Kyuubi then inverted his thoughts so he could speak with Naruto in their 'conference room.' On his way there he recalled the events that had brought them here.

Itachi's get away had been interrupted by an ANBU squad. Normally they wouldn't be a problem, but Itachi was still worn out from using the Tsukuyomi. He couldn't fight them and guaranty he would win and he couldn't outrun them with the extra weight of a motionless body. Kyuubi had been slightly lucid during that time and felt it when he was thrown at the ANBU guards. Itachi had been able to escape from the help of that distraction.

Kyuubi had arrived at his target. He saw Naruto pacing the floor in front of the tunnel exit, head down and muttering to himself. He was so caught up in whatever he was thinking about that he didn't even notice Kyuubi's arrival.

"Oi! What's got you all worked up kit?" Naruto looked up and smiled.

"I've just been thinking."

"That would be a first."

"Shut up!" Kyuubi laughed. They exchanged this playful banter on a regular basis over the eternity they had shared. However, Naruto actually seemed to have been thinking this time. When the blond boy actually put his mind to it he could have remarkable insight, but he rarely thought it was necessary to resort to such means.

"Okay, I'll bite. What were you thinking about?"

"Several things. First off, when I used Kage Bunshin, what happened to you?" Kyuubi seemed a little put off by this. What had happened to him? He searched his memories, trying to find something he could grab on to.

"Well, my mind was copied just like yours was. Why?" Naruto reviled a devious smile.

"What if I gave you control of a bunshin's body? That way we could both always be dominating. We could switch between the real body and the bunshin every week or something. What do you think?" Kyuubi could only smile at this stroke of genius. The blond boy really was full of surprises.

"I say that's a good plan. Plus constantly maintaining a bunshin will be good training." Naruto broke into a grin again. He loved getting recognition for his ideas. True, most of them were crazy, insane, stupid, or all of the above, but he had a few good ones from time to time.

"Great! Now to the second and third point. How are we going to explain who you are and, because it's against the law to talk about you, what should your name be?" A new name? How far in advance did this kid think?

"Well, let's tell the truth, or at least a half-truth. I'm an alternate persona that you discovered while Itachi was beating the crap out of you and I'm just a bunshin half the time. As for my name, how about Ky? Or maybe Kyu. What do you think?"

"Ky, defiantly. One syllable names just sound cool. And if we don't say you're Kyuubi, then I don't need to explain to Iruka-sensei that we made a deal, do I?" Kyuubi, or rather Ky, grimaced. He knew this was coming. After all, he did kill his parents.

"Naruto, is Iruka important to you?" The blond boy simply nodded his head. Ky sighed. He was afraid of that.

"If he is important to you, you should probably tell him the truth. He may want to fight me, but he can't really kill me. It will be good for him. Keeping secrets is fine, but you need to let in those close to you." Naruto look a little uncomfortable with the idea of the two people closest to him fighting, but he nodded in agreement. He had no desire to alienate the closest thing he had to a family.

"Alright. That clears things up with me. That leaves two more questions. What are we going to do about your friend in the cloud-nin?" Ky felt touched. He mentioned his friend one time and the boy kept asking about her. It was good to know she would be remembered by others.

"She's as good as gone kit. After training for twelve years with a demon's power she must be formidable. We couldn't beat her in our current condition and I doubt her offer to kill off the Hyuugas still stands."

"We could kill the Hyuugas off anyways. My friend Hinata-chan is a Hyuuga, so we can't kill her."

"You consider her your friend?"

"Well, she's nice to me, so I guess I do." Naruto looked puzzled as Ky began to chuckle.

"You have a lot to learn about the world, kit."

"And stop calling me that! It's getting annoying."

"Why do you think I do it?" Naruto gave Ky a meaningful glare before sticking out his tongue. Ky suppressed another chuckle. Maybe he was having too much fun at the boy's expense.

"And no, we can't just kill of the Hyuugas. Can you imagine the backlash that would entail? Anyways, what was the last question?" Ky was actually curious. Naruto's last statements did provoke some thought, so hopefully this last one would too.

"You're an ancient demon, right? Then you should be able to teach me so super cool ancient jutsus, right?" Ky stared at the young boy. He was tensing with anticipation. Ky hated to burst his bubble, but it had to be done.

"Kit, do foxes have hands?" Naruto blinked.

"Of course not."

"Then how do you expect us to use hand seals to use jutsus?" Naruto's eyes shot open and then he started to yell.

"Damn it! I knew something like this would happen! I just knew it! Nothing is ever perfect!"

"Kit!" Naruto was stopped mid-rave to look at his charcoal-haired counterpart.

"Just because I can't teach you jutsus, I can help in different ways. Remember that scroll you read? I have raw chakara use down to an art form, so I should be able to learn, and thus teach, those. Also, I can teach you my special taijutsu." Naruto's previously crest fallen face changed entirely as he heard this. He took a flying leap towards his mental roommate and trapped him in a hug.

"Kyuubi you're awesome!" Ky released a laugh.

"It's Ky now, remember? And before we do any training, I think we should focus on recovering. Don't you get you genin team tomorrow?" The blonds' eyes lit up again. Say anything involving being a shinobi and the kid grew all starry-eyed. It was sad in a way.

"There are a lot of things we need to do before you get your team, kit."

"Like what?"

"We need to give each other rudimentary training. I need to learn jutsus and hand signs and such, and you need to learn a decent taijutsu style. Right now you just kind of flail your fists around. And we need to get you a respectable set of clothes." Suddenly fear shot across the blond boy's face.

"What do you mean new clothes? What's wrong with what I've got?"

"Naruto, I wouldn't be caught dead in the company of a neon billboard such as yourself in public. We're getting you some clothes that won't make you a perfect target for anyone with a kunai." Naruto was viably pouting, but if Ky said it was true than it was probably true. It still pissed him off that this was coming from a giant red fox.

"Fine, but that doesn't mean I'll like them. But how are we going to train that much? We only have one day." Ky revealed his grin. It still retained the same qualities of danger and killing ability of his old one.

"Have you forgotten, kit? Time doesn't pass in here. As long as we're training our minds and not our bodies, we can train here forever."

Ky and Naruto stopped their talk to look to the walls. The walls were alive. The two saw a women garbed in a white nurse's gown looking at a clipboard at the foot of their bed. It was hard to see because their body's eyes were barely open. It was strange; it was easier for Naruto to think of the body as 'theirs' rather than 'his.' It was slightly disturbing. It was also strange that the nurse seemed to be as still as a statue. Because time was at a standstill nothing moved in their body's field of vision. Naruto was sick of looking at the world in pause.

"Oi, I'm going to take our body this week. Once I'm discharged from the hospitable I'll get you a bunshin body, got it?" Naruto then sprinted down the tunnel of his mind to his body. Even though they shared a body, the sewers were still Naruto's mind. Also, it appeared to have been cleaned up a little. At the very least there were less mushrooms growing.

The world continued to move again on the walls. The nurse was smiling gently as she told Naruto that he was free to go. No sooner had she said that, he leapt from bed and ran for the training ground. He placed his hands in their newly discovered cross sign. He focused his chakara into his fingers, imagining streams of blue light drifting into his hands. He released the energy. Suddenly, there were two Narutos. Naruto blinked.

"I didn't say anything." The bunshin smiled.

"You didn't need to. A skilled shinobi doesn't need to say anything. Heck, a skilled shinobi doesn't even need to use hand signs, but they do help." As a demonstration, the bunshin was covered with a poof of smoke which revealed a boy of Naruto's height. Naruto recognized the black-as-coal hair, buttonless red shirt, and black eyes instantly.

"I thought you couldn't use jutsus."

"I've seen you do this one a thousand times. It isn't exactly hard. Well, now we know we can both have bodies. Now, explain to me exactly how these bunshins work." Naruto looked like he was about to speak but stopped himself. He rested his chin on his fist and wore a look of deep contemplation on his face.

"You know, I don't really know." Ky shook his head. He had been expecting that. It was a good thing that he had been looking at the scroll was well.

"Let me tell you, kit, you should really try to comprehend what you read. I'll explain it as best as I can. These Kage Bunshins are copies of us mentally and physically. For example, if you cut of your left ear, all of you future bunshins would have one ear. If you see a complicated book, all of you subsequent bunshins would have seen that book too, follow?" Naruto was nodding his head. He seamed to remember Iruka-sensei saying something like this, but Ky made it easier to understand.

"Now, if you make a bunshin and then cut your ear off, nothing happens to you bunshins. He will still have two ears. Follow?" Naruto nodded again. It made sense so far. He could take this in small pieces and had learned a lot about patience since he met Kyuubi. Or since he met Ky, whichever you would prefer.

"Now, when a bunshin is killed or 'released,' shall we say, we receive their mental growth, but not their physical ones. Follow?" The blond boy grimaced a little. He was getting a little confused here. He didn't want to admit it to his partner, but the risk of doing something wrong was far worse.

"No, I don't. Can you give me an example?"

"Alright. Pretend that your bunshin read a book and then cut his ear off. When you released him, it would be like you had read the book, but nothing would happen to your ear. Our body cannot be affected by bunshins, but our minds can." Now Naruto was smiling at the black-eyed boy. It felt good to learn something new. It meant he had killed of a part of his ignorance. And Naruto felt he had an idea of where Ky was going with this.

"Knowing this, it would be a bad idea to use bunshins for physical training such as running, right?"

"You're half right, kit. Running would be a bad idea, but doing things like taijutsu and other jutsus wouldn't be a half bad idea."

"I thought that it wouldn't affect our body."

"It wouldn't. The most important part of taijutsu is to be able to react to any situation fluidly. If we have bunshins fight, we will have lots of experience in taijutsu without ever having lifted a finger. And jutsus are mainly trying to figure out how to channel chakara where it's needed and how to shape it. If we can do that without thinking about it, it will give us a good edge in our fights." The young shinobi looked sobered up. He had the idea right but he didn't think it all the way through. He shook his head; leave it to Ky to show him where he goofed up.

"However, because bunshins can't affect our body, we need to be constantly working it. That means running, chakara control, and any other body building thing you can think of." Ky sat down as if he was done and Naruto followed.

"So here is what I suggest. We will train each other mentally in this bunshin's mind and we will take turns working that body. Sound good?" The Naruto in the bunshin's mind was leaping up and down. Finally he would get to do something. He was getting bored by himself. The one outside was simply nodding. He got up and started to run. He planed to run around Konoha until midnight and then he would sleep till he had to go meet his team. The Ky in his mind had agreed wholeheartedly.

Back in the bunshin's mind, Ky and Naruto were arguing what to train with first.

"We need to become proficient with taijutsu so our bunshins can start working with it. I want to see how well that taijutsu will work with my chakara." Ky had voiced his opinion and was quickly met by his partners.

"But that's only good in close range. If we prefect our throwing skills, we can hit things from any distant and our bunshins can work with that!" As much as Ky hated to admit it, but Naruto was probably right, even if not for the right reasons. Throwing was mostly a mental skill and would be best preformed by a platoon of bunshins. Also, it seemed like a fairly simple skill, so he expected to pick it up quite quickly.

"Alright, let's do it your way. But as soon as we have made the bunshins, we study taijutsu, agreed?" The boy in the red shirt had extended his hand. It was quickly enveloped in a hand attached to a blond boy. Both smiled and spoke at the same time.

"Looks like we have a deal."

* * *

The blond boy was sprawled out over his bed. He didn't even bother to take a show he was so exhausted. Not only had he been running around Konoha almost none stop, (even a shinobi had to go to the bathroom now and again) but he had been trying to focus chakara to his feet the whole time. He figured it would be like running on Astroturf; he would release just a little from each foot as he was pushing of and it would put more spring in his step, pushing him along farther. He had gotten it to work by the end of the day, but not before suffering some humiliating instances where he pushed too much out and his leg had come out from under him. To make matters worse, Ky had picked it up almost instantly. He was easily able to sprint with their new running technique while Naruto had to be concentrating fully in order to go at a light run.

That was tiring enough, but his bunshins had been working, too. His mind was flooded by everything he had learned and was startled by some of the things he had been working on. Ky had been complaining about a headache as well. Being a bunshin cherry, it was too bad his first time had to have been so stressful. Taijutsu stances, jutsu hand sign orders, shuriken and kunai throwing technique, and some understandings between his partner and himself flowed through his eyes.

Flashbacks

"So why can't I use your chakara when you have so much more then me?" Naruto whined.

"Using your own will help you grow stronger. It's bad to depend on an outside force to help you grow stronger. Plus, I think demonic chakara is potently dangerous to humans."

**

* * *

**

"Raise your arm a bit and you're good. Now fling your arm forward and point to where you're aiming when you release." Naruto was physically moving Ky's arms into the right positions. He was glad Iruka-sensei had pushed throwing skills so hard. It was kind of fun being the teacher for once. Ky snapped his arm forward and the shuriken embedded itself about a foot below where Ky was aiming. He sighed. This could take a while.

* * *

"So it's not Horse-Bird-Ram-Serpent, but Horse-Bird-Tiger-Serpent? They look so similar it's hard to tell them apart."

"Ky, you need to get used to hands. Now make all the seals again, but faster this time." Naruto sighed as his partner turned pupil ran through the hands signs for the eighth time, still getting Ram and Tiger backwards.

* * *

"That's right. Let the chakara pour out of you body and form around you arm. There we go." Naruto's right arm had been engulfed in a shining blue light. When examined closed it would be clear that the light was actually chakara given form. A closer examination would show that said chakara had taken the shape of a fox's forearm. Naruto swung his arm forward and watched as the chakara claw seemed to drag behind his own arm.

"Put more chakara into it. It should be stuck to your arm, not dragging behind it!" Ky was not going to allow Naruto get by with all-right. Not after his humiliating lesson with hand seals he wasn't.

* * *

"Spin on your palm and thrust kick up. Your opponent should be there. If not, he is either behind you in which case you swim your leg down and use it to jump away from the area, or he is underground in which case you do the same thing." Naruto had sweat dripping off his face and his fists were swollen. He must have preformed the same drills a thousand times. Ky didn't look much better, but he had his mind occupied with remembering the pictures from the forbidden scroll.

'Why the hell did this stupid taijutsu form have to be in there?" Naruto asked himself as he began the sequence again.

* * *

"You're thousands of years old, Ky! Shouldn't you be stronger?" Ky had an annoyed look on his face and it was clear that Naruto had hit a sore spot.

"Being in captivity for twelve years with a seal repressing all of your strength can do that to someone. It would take a few decades to achieve my peak again. Demons deteriorate almost as fast as they can build yourself up, you know. It's nature's way to make sure demons don't become the single living thing on the planet."

"Really?"

"Of course. Still, it doesn't help that these bunshins can only handle so much power. Once we make it so our physical body can take more strain we can use more of my power."

"Our body?"

"Yeah, our body, kit."

End Flashbacks

"Argh!" Naruto slammed his face down into the pillow. He just wanted to go to bed. He couldn't keep doing this. It was almost as hard on his mind as Tsukuyomi was. Well, not really, but it seemed like it. He couldn't even completely look forward to tomorrow, either. Ky had outright demanded that he get a new outfit. He said it was embarrassing to be around 'a walking traffic cone.' What the hell was a traffic cone, anyways? And why couldn't he fall asleep? He was exhausted and needed rest, but for some reason he was wide awake.

"Damn adrenaline probably hasn't worn off yet." Ky answered. Naruto turned his head and looked at the boy lying on the couch. He looked just as beat as Naruto felt, and with good reason. They had just as much mental stress, being the only two remaining bodies. Refusing to stay awake any longer, Naruto used one of the new techniques he had learned.

"Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu. (Forced Sleep Technique)" Naruto immediately slumped forward onto his bed. Ky chuckled. He walked over to the bed and tucked the boy in. He then set himself up on the couch. He smiled to himself; he had finally gotten the damn hand signs down. As he was preparing the jutsu an old saying passed through his mind; 'May your dreams bring happiness and may they speak true.' In a few seconds Ky followed his partner into dreamland, his smile still on his face.


	4. Team Meetings

Guess who's back ladies and germs! I made it back to the mid-west Sunday and I'm updating today because this is the first day I've finished all my homework before 10 'o clock. Anyways, please take the time to thank my new favorite Ausi for beta-ing (Is that a word?) this chapter: Kirallie (not real name, of course). I'm serious. You might just leave a review that says "Thank you Kirallie-san for helping my favorite author with his amazing work and aiding in the effort to put more of this great story where I can read it." Or maybe you'd do something more realistic. To each his own. Or her own, just so I don't look like a sexist ass.

I don't own Naruto or anything else I might allude to in this story. If I did own Naruto, I would make sure that none of my characters were genderly confused.

* * *

"_Just a few more test, Mr. Kyuubi. We need to test the white blood cell count again. Stay still so we can take the sample." A man with large, round glasses stood in a white coat. In one hand he held a flat board with paper attached to it. A clipboard? His other hand was gripping the silver handle attached to a long piece of wood. He was leaning on this stick. A walking stick? Behind him was a wall covered with glowing screens and flashing buttons. It made him sick to look at it._

"_No! No more test. No more needles. Leave me alone. Leave me alone…" He was sobbing now. The needles, the tests, the machines, they all had to stop. He was done. He wanted to leave. He had had enough, forever._

"_Now that's no way to behave, Mr. Kyuubi. Mrs. Dawson, hit him with the sedatives." A woman with a wardrobe similar to the man's pulled out a large syringe and approached him._

"_NO! STAY AWAY! NO MORE! NO MORE!" His vision became blurry, wisps of red flashing in and out of his line of vision. The needle kept coming. He saw the tip tilt towards his chest. He knew what would happen after they put that in him._

"_STAY AWAY!" The tip slid its way into his chest cavity. It went right into his skin. He screamed in pain. The needles. The needles were killing him. Soon they would suck out what life remained in his broken body. He was going to die._

"NO!" Ky was sitting up. Sweat was pouring from his face and sides. His clothes were stuck to his body, held on by the salt water. There was no glowing wall, no man with a stick, and no women with a needle. It was a dream. It was just a bad dream. A terrible nightmare.

He turned his head to look at his partner. Naruto appeared to be fast asleep. His scream didn't seem to have affected the exhausted boy. That was good; he needed his sleep. Ky turned his head to the window. It was bright out side. Very bright. It couldn't still be morning. What time was it? Ky grabbed Naruto's alarm clock.

"Shit. Oi, wake up kit!" Ky had kicked the sleeping boy in the ribs. Naruto woke up almost instantly.

"That hurt! What the hell was that for?" Ky tossed the alarm clock to him, not caring if he was ready to catch it.

"We're going to be late, kit. Let's go." Naruto had danced a little jig trying to catch the alarm clock, but he managed to turn it so he could see the numbers.

"Shit! Let's go Ky." Naruto ran to the door only to have Ky grab on to his collar and pull him back. Naruto turned to his partner, expecting an explanation. He wasn't disappointed.

"We need to change our cloths. You're still wearing that ridicules thing, and I'm wearing it too, only with a henge. We bought new clothes and we're going to wear them." Naruto stuck his tongue out and Ky grabbed on to it, pulling slightly before letting go. Naruto put on Ky's physical red shirt and other attire. After creating a new bunshin, the current one disappeared. Grumbling, Naruto got undressed and began to put on his new clothing.

"I still don't like this more than my jumpsuit." Naruto whined. The new Ky bunshin, who was exactly like the old one besides the fact that the damn jumpsuit really wasn't there, laughed at the pathetic display.

"You don't have to like it. I like it more, and I'm sure most of the girls in your class will." Ky grinned at Naruto's faint blush. He knew he had already won but it still felt good to gloat a little. Naruto had just tied his headband on when something occurred to him.

"Oi, you don't have a headband Ky. Does that mean you're not a shinobi?"

"As far as anyone else is concerned, I'm just your alternate personality. You're a schizophrenic and I am the result. You passed, so I passed transitively, got it?" Naruto obviously did not.

"What's a schizophrenic?"

"Don't ask. Let's just go."

* * *

"And team seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka had to pause as dozens of girls started to yell in protest. He sighed to himself. He didn't see Naruto anywhere and he was pretty sure that he would be complaining, too. As if his thoughts had summoned him, Naruto came running in the open door with someone else close behind.

"Sorry I'm late Iruka-sensei! I had to go buy new milk for breakfast this morning because mine had gone bad and… Why are you staring at me like that?" In fact, Iruka wasn't the only one staring. Most of the class turned to see what the commotion was and what they saw surprised them. There was no way that was Uzumaki. He was always wearing that orange rag, so who the hell was this? Whoever it was had on standard blue shinobi sandals followed by a pair of baggy, black pants, almost covering his feet. Going further up was a thin orange long sleeve shirt. Pulled over this long sleeve was a black T-shirt with an orange spiral embroidered on the front. His face didn't even look like the Naruto that was here for the academy before. It seemed thinner somehow, and more angular. The male populace of the room stared in slightly amused wonder, minus Shikamaru and Sasuke. They just plain didn't care. As for the females, they were staring with something similar to shock. When did this goofball change so much? Naruto began to squirm under their surveillance and started to walk to his usual seat next to Sakura. Iruka shook his head as if to clear it.

"As I was saying, team seven will contain Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto's went bug-eyed before he was hit swiftly on the back of the head.

"Shut up, kit. It's not worth arguing about." All eyes now turned to the other boy who walked in behind Naruto and was now standing behind his seat. Even Sasuke turned his head. Anyone who hit Naruto couldn't be that bad. Shikamaru was arguing with Ino about something trivial and missed the second boy entirely. It was probably the first time the genius missed something important when he was awake. A few other students looked at the new boy with more interest. It was rare for someone to just show up at a shinobi academy. Iruka thought about asking the boy to introduce himself, but decided against it. He didn't think Naruto would let someone who could be dangerous follow him to the academy without putting up a fight.

"You're Jounin-sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team eight…"

* * *

"Hey Naruto, what happened to you?" Sakura seemed genuinely interested. She actually thought the dobe looked kind of cute, but still not to par with Sasuke's complete and total hotness. Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled lightly.

"Well, Ky-senpie told me to get rid of my jumpsuit, so I did. This is just what I got to replace it." Sakura nodded slightly as if saying that was good enough.

"And are you Ky-san then?" Sakura was addressing the boy in red this time. Sasuke's ears perked up. It would be nice to know who this guy was.

"Hai." Sakura seemed a little put off buy the unfriendliness in this boy's voice. Who did he think he was, answering her in such a simple manner? She would have to put him in his place.

"Listen here, baka. Sasuke-kun is my boyfriend and if I ask him to he could beat your ass to a pulp so don't try to make me mad." Sasuke frowned at his being brought into the conversation. He looked to the boy to see if he took offense and was glad to see him blow her off completely.

"I doubt you could get him to piss on you to put you out if you were on fire running down the street." All those in hearing distance couldn't help but snicker, causing Sakura to turn red. She wasn't going to take this.

"Listen here you…"

"Shut up. People can't hear their teams." Sakura was turning shades of red only Hinata had reached before, but for an entirely different reason. Why wasn't anyone defending her? She could understand Sasuke; he never helped with anything, but usually Naruto would make a fool of himself trying to get on her good side. Instead, he was sitting there laughing with the rest of them. She could even see Hinata covering up a few giggles. Knowing she could just do something later, she decided to acquiesce for the time being.

* * *

"When is he going to get here?" Naruto was pacing the floor, clearly inpatient for their teacher to show up.

"Sit down, kit. Pacing won't fix anything." Ky spoke with a completely even tone. He had yet to show any sign of emotion during his time at the academy and he would be damned if he broke that charade now.

"It makes me feel better." Naruto replied, but sat down anyways. Sakura sighed in relief. Watching him pace was only making her more impatient. Sasuke was still discreetly stealing glances at the new boy dubbed Ky. There was something off about him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Sakura had tried several times to make Ky feel guilty about his earlier performance but gave it up as a lost cause. She found him about as stoic as Sasuke. Eventually she gave up on trying to hurt him and tried instead to get information on him.

"So how do you know Naruto?"

"I've know him since he was born."

"Okay, and how is that?"

"Why would I tell you?" Sakura could feel her face flushing again. It was clear that they wouldn't be getting along very well. She turned to the other boy involved.

"Naruto, how do you know him?"

"If he doesn't want to tell you, why should I?" Without hesitation Sakura pounded Naruto fiercely on the head. She would feel a little guilty hitting the new kid but Naruto should know better.

"Baka, I asked you a question!" Naruto was slumped over his desk, nursing his head while the two other boys coughed a small laugh.

"Tell me again, kit, why do you like her?" Ky asked honestly. He was unsure to what level physical appearance made up for personality flaws in Naruto's mind.

"I'm not really sure anymore. Ow!" Naruto had received another blow to the head by a fearsome pink haired kunoichi. Suddenly, the sliding door opened. In stepped a tall man with oddly colored hair. It seemed to be a kind of silvery-white. He also appeared to be covering his face with a mask as well as his left eye with his headband. Other than that, he appeared to be dressed as a fairly standard shinobi. He looked at the four.

"Four? That can't be right." Kakashi was about to count again when one of them raised his hand.

"There are only three of us. I'm just a bunshin."

"Eh?" Sakura exclaimed aloud, turning to the black-eyed boy. Sasuke also appeared slightly shocked. Kakashi was, of course, surprised, but he had heard Naruto's reputation as a prankster. This was probably a setup for his newest gag. Sakura had stood up and started poking Ky. She jabbed his arm, his neck, and between his ribs before he grabbed her hand.

"Please stop doing that." Ky released the hold he had on her fingers and Sakura frowned.

"I can touch you. You can't be a bunshin."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. I was unaware that was on the learning curriculum." Kakashi looked a Naruto expectantly.

"It isn't." Naruto and Ky both spoke simultaneously. Kakashi smiled. This could prove interesting then.

"Alright, let's meet on the roof." Having said that, he disappeared in a flash. Sasuke stood up and began to follow, only allowing himself to go at a steady walk. Naruto was about to sprint but Ky pulled him back.

"Don't waste energy. He might have a test in order." Naruto only nodded and began to walk shoulder to shoulder with his partner and unofficial teammate. Sakura was walking right behind them still confused.

"So, I lost an argument to a bunshin?"

* * *

"I guess we should introduce ourselves." Kakashi was hunkering on the balls of his feat while the newly appointed genin plus the bunshin were seated on the ground. He looked at them all with mild interest. He could tell at a glace this would be hard pressed to work. The girl was boy-crazy, the Uchiha was an ass, and the reformed prankster and his altered bunshin didn't seem to care about the other two.

"Well, introduce yourself then." Ky went straight to the point. Let the old guy set the par. Then he wouldn't look suspicious for not revealing much about himself.

"Well, let's see. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have many hobbies. My likes and dislikes? I've never really thought about it. As for my dream, it's none of your business, is it?" Ky and Naruto sported small smiles. If all that this 'Hatake' guy was willing to give was his name, they wouldn't have to put forward much at all. Naruto rolled forward into a sitting position where his back was completely straight.

"I guess I'm up. I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He immediately slumped his shoulders and rolled back, resting his elbows on the ground. He lazily waved a hand to Ky, signaling that he should go next. Ky sighed and sat up.

"My name is Ky." Having spoken, he hunched over and rested his chin on his closed fists. It was clear that he had finished even though he had given nothing more than his first name. Not that the Kyuubi had a last name, but they didn't know that. Sakura decided she was up next.

"My name is Haruno Sakura." She stopped it there, not wanting to be the one to break this newly formed chain. The Naruto inside of Ky spoke up.

"Sakura is one of Sasuke's mindless fangirls, which is kind of ironic since she usually got the best grades in our class. No special skills or anything, but I think she's supposed to be a genjutsu user. I don't even know if she can use anything taught outside the Academy." Ky nodded internally at this. He summed up what Naruto was saying in a few words: the girl was fairly useless as anything but a meat shield. The last to speak, Sasuke also opted not to break the chain.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke." He hadn't moved anything but his jaw, trying to give the impression that those present weren't worth moving over. Sakura was too wrapped up to notice such disrespect and the others simply didn't care. Let him get high off his own farts; the rest of them were ready to work.

"Well, I guess I'll need to tell you about your genin test." Naruto's ears perked up.

"What do you mean? We already passed those."

"Those were preliminary tests to see who could become a genin. It's my job to decide if any of you actually do become genin. In fact, there is less then a 66 success rate, so that means at least one of you will probably fail." Kakashi corrected.

"We'll meet tomorrow at training field seven. Be there at around seven. And don't eat breakfast. You'll puke." The masked nin departed after releasing that little bit of cheer. Naruto and Ky looked at one another. They both knew that the blond boy couldn't skip breakfast without complaining the rest of the day and silently agreed to go ahead and eat.

"Well, I'm going home then." Naruto and Ky leaped to their feet and in two separate blurs disappeared into the horizon. Sakura squealed in joy and wrapped her arms around Sasuke's waist.

"Look at that, Sasuke. They left us all alone." She was giggling to herself, probably imagining things that would have made the Uchiha feel dirty and abused. Sasuke simply pushed the clingy girl away, and internally cursed Uzumaki and his newfound friend. What were they thinking, leaving him alone with her? It was a good thing she was weak or else Sasuke might have feared rape. He still remembered the one time that Ino chick took over his body. The raven-haired boy suppressed a shudder; those were not pleasant memories. How the hell did girls even know how to do that?

"I'm going home." Sasuke leaped off the rooftop and into the nearest tree, knowing he could outrun the girl easily. He needed to take a shower. Remembering past events always left him feeling unclean. Sakura was left pouting, hands on her hips. She had seen the pictures Ino had taken and would be damned if she couldn't take some of her own. The pink-haired girl began to tear after her sex symbol.

* * *

"Naruto, I want you to release this bunshin before we go to bed tonight." The grinning nin nodded. He could do that, and if Ky didn't want to tell him why he wouldn't ask. However, he wanted to eat first.

"Come on, Ky! It's still early morning. Let's get some lunch and go train some. Maybe we can find Sasuke and tear him to shreds!" Naruto laughed merrily at the thought and Ky grinned slightly as he pictured dismembered limbs flying through the air. It would be like Christmas come early. But first came lunch.

"Janken to see who eats?" (Janken is just a better name for Rock Paper Scissors.) Naruto offered up as the challenge and Ky was not one to turn it down.

"All right." Both competitors made a fist while facing one another. Both smiled slightly as they began their competition.

"Jan ken pon!" Naruto revealed a closed fist as Ky revealed a flattened hand. The black-eyed boy grinned.

"Paper beats rock. Looks like I'm eating, kit." Naruto was fuming slightly but he accepted defeat. The boy in red disappeared in a puff of smoke, much to the disappointment of several girls nearby in hiding. They were further shocked as the blond boy was replaced by the same black-eyed nin in another puff of smoke. Needless to say they were confused, but they refused to be deterred from their goal. Damn stalkers.

The black-boy smiled to himself. He had recently discovered that he enjoyed the taste of pork ramen and had since competed with Naruto over who should be the one to eat at meals. It was a waste to feed a bunshin and they both enjoyed eating at meals. Eventually they decided that they wouldn't decide. Neither wanted to accept not eating his own meals, so it had grown into silly games or tests to figure out who would eat. Ky was happy to say his first experience with losing was this morning. He happily seated himself at Naruto's favorite ramen stand, just to add insult to injury. He smiled at Ayame and ordered three bowls of pork ramen. That was another understanding between the two of them; they wouldn't spend more than a certain amount on any meal. Living on a limited income when it took a dump truck to fill you up was a bad combination. Ky just waited as the pleasant aroma filled his nose, making sure Naruto caught a whiff. It felt good to be a bastard.

* * *

"So we have our body doing push-ups and stuff and a huge bunshin war across the river, so what will we be doing, Ky-senpie?"

"Stop calling me that. It makes me feel old."

"You deserve to feel old. You're a few thousand years older than me, remember?" Ky decided that now was as good as ever to explain his training plan.

"Kit, I've had a stroke of genius. I thought of a way in which I can give up on these stupid hand seals and you can have a major advantage when using ninjutsu. Sound good so far?" Ky smiled as he saw Naruto was listening intently, hanging on to every word.

"Here's what we do…"


	5. The Trouble with Teachers

Alright. This is my last pre-written chapter, so don't expect any updates for a while. Again, thanks go out to Kirallie-san for Beta-ing this chapter. Also, I can't seem to find the correct translation for Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu so I'm just going with Earth: Groundhog Technique Decapitation. Again, please review as reviews give me an ego boost and make me feel like writing more. It's kind of like drugs. Not that I know from experience, but that's what I've heard.

I don't own Naruto or anything else I might allude to in this story. If I did own Naruto, I would make sure that none of my characters were genderly confused.

* * *

"His ass is late." Naruto's previously good mood from actually being able to eat twice in a row was dampened considerably as he had been sitting for the last half hour waiting for his teacher to show up. Ky smacked him in the back of the head. 

"Don't become impatient. He's doing this on purpose to try and keep you from thinking during his test. We've been through worse, so relax." Ky hated to give this lecture, mainly because he rarely followed it. Naruto and he were beings of action, meant to perform, not wait. Still, if waiting must be done then they would wait. And wait. And wait. And just for good measure wait some more. Ky internally decided that he would slit this ass's throat for this. From the sun they could tell it was at least ten o' clock. It wasn't till then that a certain silver-haired shinobi decided to show up.

"You're late!" Sakura screamed and Naruto was half tempted to join her, but one look from Ky quickly quashed such thoughts. He heard his teacher give some half-assed excuse for being late but started to pay attention again as he started to explain the test.

"The test is simple. All you have to do is get these bells from me before this clock goes off. It's set to ring at about noon, so that should give you a good two hours to fail." Sasuke looked at the bells and noticed something off.

"There are only two bells." Sakura had voiced exactly the same thought. Kakashi smiled. They were beginning to get it.

"When I said there was less then 66 chance for you to pass, I meant it. If you don't get a bell I'll tie you to one of these posts and you won't get lunch. If you want to get these bells and not be sent back to the Academy, I suggest you use lethal force. Otherwise you will never get these bells." Shock registered in the pink-haired girls face while the boys only smirked. Sakura looked as if she was about to voice some objection when Naruto interrupted her.

"So you're saying we can try and kill you, Hatake-sensei?" The mentioned nin frowned slightly at how he was being addressed. By his surname?

"Yeah, that's what he's saying." Sasuke answered before their sensei had the chance. Naruto grinned.

"This just became interesting." With that, Naruto and Ky disappeared in flashes. Kakashi's revealed eye showed obvious shock at such high speeds, at least from these rookies. They were at least as fast as that moron's favorite student while he was wearing his light weights. It was only thanks to his quick reaction time that he avoided the roundhouse kick aimed for the back of his head and his quick thinking that allowed him to avoid several kunai aimed right at where his head had moved to. His headband was a little scuffed up now, but he was unhurt. He looked at a frowning Naruto and his equally unhappy teammate.

"You came at me planning to kill. I think I'm beginning to like you guys. But next time, wait till I say go." Naruto scoffed. Ky appeared insulted.

"Kit, I want to see you do this alone. Say your lesson."

"Which one?"

"Which one seems appropriate?" Naruto smiled as his blue chakara began to flare up around his body.

"When your enemy's ignorance begs for death, appease it." The chakara sparking around Naruto began to rush towards his right arm. It spun at a high rate, faster and faster until it became a vortex, sucking in all the chakara that Naruto had released into the air. The chakara seemed to visibly solidify, looking like a blue coating on Naruto's right forearm. Ky smiled and sat back; the kit could handle himself.

"Amanojakuna Yoroi (Demonic Armor)." Kakashi's eyes went wide. The blue shape around Naruto's arm seemed to have stopped spinning and had settled into the shape of a fox's claw. Without warning Naruto rushed the dazed Jounin. He almost came back to his senses too late. He barely had the time to use a substitution to avoid the hit. Naruto's chakara covered arm plowed right threw the log that had appeared, leaving a nice, clean hole before the whole log caught fire. Kakashi was debating whether or not he should pull out his Sharingan if his opponent was using demonic jutsus as he heard an approach from his back. He quickly substituted again and once again avoided another blue claw from ripping out his innards. Kakashi looked and saw that Naruto was still trying to get his arm out of his first log. That meant that the one that just attacked him was a clone. If his clones could use that technique, then he was royally screwed. How the hell were these things catching fire?

A low whirring noise that could only be a throw shuriken approached the contemplating nin at a high speed. Not wanting to waste time, he simply grabbed the shuriken Sasuke had so gracelessly given him and threw them straight at Naruto. Not wanting to be seen, he quickly left the area to look for his other students. He doubted Naruto could maintain that claw for long and he had some time to burn 'till then.

* * *

"Naruto, you teme. Since when could you do something like that?" Sasuke was pissed. Not only had Naruto used a technique that he had never even heard of, but his lazy ass sensei had used Sasuke's own attack in stride to attack the dobe. By the Uchiha name, he would not be outclassed. By his own name, Uzumaki would rue the day he tried to show him up. 

He needed one of those bells. It was clear from Naruto's display that taijutsu was out of the question. He wasn't that fast and didn't have a technique that would give him that much power. He was never good with genjutsu and weapons seemed ineffective as well, which left only ninjutsu. Sasuke smiled.

"My specialty." He knew his sensei had been tailing him, and now that he had found an open area with nowhere to hide, Sasuke began his hand seal formation. As soon as Kakashi revealed himself to the young Uchiha, Sasuke exhaled, creating a massive ball of fire.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire: Great Fireball Technique)." Kakashi was surprised to say the least. Did all these kids know jutsus above their level? At least this one he was familiar with. Performing a quick hand seal, a log was burnt to a crisp and Kakashi had a kunai against Sasuke's throat. The boy dismissed the blade and spun on the balls of his heals, delivering a forceful kick to Kakashi's midsection. His leg was instead met with Kakashi's spare hand, the one not currently holding a kunai. Not to be discouraged, Sasuke threw his fist straight at the man's head. The Jounin pulled back his second hand and blocked the punch with the flat of the blade. Sasuke then lifted his second leg, aiming for the one taboo place on all males. Kakashi deflected this simply by moving his leg over, but this also brought the bells closer to Sasuke's body. He was smiling as he outstretched his remaining limb to try and grab hold of the bell. To his surprise, the man had unceremoniously dropped him to the floor and had leaped back to a safe distance.

Sasuke was picking himself up, slowly but surely. How had he gotten away? He was attacking him on three fronts. He should have been too preoccupied to be able to even think about the bells, much less defend them. Temporary lost in his own train of thought, he didn't notice that his teacher was no longer present. He was quickly reminded of that as his body was pulled completely underground. His sensei's smug looking face was openly displayed in front of him. If he had been able to use his arms, he would definitely make that bastard pay.

"It's called Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth: Groundhog Technique Decapitation). You need to be aware of your surroundings, Sasuke. If you beg me for help, I might just pull you out of there." Kakashi smiled, fully knowing what was coming next.

"An Uchiha beg? I must have hit you harder than I thought. No Uchiha will ever beg, you bastard." Kakashi only shrugged as if it didn't matter. In truth, it didn't. He wasn't planning on pulling him up regardless.

"Just know that I offered." In another flash he was gone, leaving a self-brooding Sasuke.

"Why do I have to be so weak? Damn them! Now, how do I get out?"

* * *

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura was in a slight panic. Not only had she seen Naruto perform some abnormal jutsu, but she had lost track of where everyone else was. Needless to say she could tell where Naruto was, but Ky, Kakashi-sensei, and most importantly Sasuke-kun had gone missing. She was franticly looking for Sasuke, thinking that if she helped him they could get bells and send Naruto's ass back to the Academy. She smiled at the thought until a disturbing sight greeted her. 

Sasuke was leaning against a tree, eyes wide with pain. A blue hand was sticking through his chest, right where his heart should be. She began to quiver as she saw the dead look in Sasuke's eyes and the pulsating red mussel inside the blue hand. It was still beating in a familiar Bah Bum Bah Bum pattern. Sakura stared in horror as that could only be one thing. She looked over Sasuke's non-moving shoulder and saw the blond genin grinning as he began to crush the heart in is hands. The girl's knees buckled. Her legs gave up on her and she fell to the ground. Sasuke was dead. Sasuke was dead and Naruto had killed him. Naruto had killed Sasuke. She couldn't do a thing about it. Sasuke was…

* * *

"Hmm… Maybe I hit her with that genjutsu a little hard." Kakashi rarely second guessed himself, but he had never been known as a good teacher. He shrugged it off. 

"If she doesn't come out of it by the time the timer goes off, I'll just have to wake her up."

* * *

Naruto's armored arm had long since dispersed. Around twenty copies of him were charging in different directions in the woods, looking for their newly appointed teacher. Ky was standing off to the side with a smug look on his face. Naruto knew what was coming and knew it was unavoidable. Might as well get it over with. 

"Go on, say it. 'This is what you get for not being certain to destroy your opponent' or some crap like that."

"Fine. This is what you get for being a baka, kit. Next time, don't miss." Naruto sighed. Deciding that he was wasting time here, he prepared to run off in a random direction. Suddenly, Naruto's mind knew the location of both of his teammates. Sakura was trapped in some genjutsu and Sasuke was trapped underground. Naruto smiled to himself. Bunshins releasing themselves could provide such wonderful information.

"Ky, did you get that?"

"Of course, kit. I like how you dropped the senpie by the way. Who do you want me to go after?"

"You take Sakura-san. I'm sure you don't want to dig up anyone and I still suck with genjutsu."

"Wait, why are we helping them?" Ky inquired. It just seemed against his nature. By all means, they should kill them to insure that they would get bells before them.

"As fodder, Ky. We get them all pissed off and more determined to get the bells then ever and have them attack blindly. Hopefully we'll see some of his techniques and they will wear him down some. If not, then at least we can have some help flushing the bastard out." Ky had to smile at his own self-doubt. He had been afraid that the kid was going soft on him. He should have known better. He was about to agree with Naruto when an idea struck him.

"Right. Nice plan, kit, but I have a better one." Ky began to give an in depth explanation and Naruto could only smile. After receiving a nod from his partner, the black-eyed boy darted off into the woods with the blond boy to his back. Said blond boy decided to move as well, leaping into the woods a few degrees to the side.

* * *

Kakashi was looking down with a look of surprise on his face. Naruto and his bunshin were aiding their teammates. This wasn't what he expected. Teamwork, and so early? It seemed beyond what they were capable of. The masked-nin shook his head in exasperation. It looked like they were going to pass after all. He leaped down from his observation spot atop a tree. Time to test this newfound teamwork.

* * *

Sakura was seated on the ground next to the boy with a red shirt. She didn't appear to be entirely happy with who saved her, but she seemed to be warming up to him a little. 

"I didn't ask you to save me." She spoke as if she was in control of the whole situation even though she was quivering on the forest floor just a moment ago. Ky let loose a dark chuckle.

"No, you didn't. You weren't in a position to be asking anyone for help, were you? I take it genjutsu isn't your strong point." Sakura saw an opportunity to show off a little and took it.

"Actually, I'm a genjutsu specialist." Sakura spoke with an air of confidence that could only be achieved with ignorance about their own abilities or perfection in them. Ky was willing to bet it was the former.

"So you specialize in genjutsu and you still were trapped in one? That says something about your skill level you know." Ky finished with a sly grin. The green-eyed nin flushed a little. How dare he insult her like that? She was not about to be insulted by a damn bunshin. She pulled her fist back to strike when she felt a cold piece of steel touch the back of her neck.

"Move that fist and die." Sakura spun around quickly, only to have the blade move from the back of her neck to bottom of her chin. There were now two Ky's, one of which had pinned her arms behind her and the other with a blade to her throat.

"You're fairly pathetic, you know?" Sakura stared fearlessly into Ky's eyes as he spoke. He gave a dark chuckle again.

"You obviously don't realize I could kill you right now. Do you not realize how easy it would be to shove this right through your neck?" Sakura's eyes widened. He could. If he wanted to he could pierce her neck and leave her body for the woods. All fearlessness gone, she looked more like a beaten puppy than anything. Ky half expected her to start whimpering.

"Don't worry, Haruno-san. I won't kill you. Not if you do exactly as I say… Keep that on! That is not what I meant!"

* * *

"Put me back in!" 

Sasuke demanded of his rescuer. Naruto was looking the boy was if he was mental, which probably wasn't that far off.

"I just dug you out. Why would I put you back in?"

"I will get out on my own. I don't need your fucking help."

"Well, fuck you too. I'm not going to burry you. Get over yourself, damn it." Naruto was wishing he had gone to help Sakura. He had forgotten that Sasuke had that inferiority complex thingy that caused him to refuse help in any way, shape, or form. Naruto sighed. It seemed like he was doing a lot of that today.

"Look Sasuke-teme. Ky is going to get Sakura-san and I came to get you. The three of us are going after that masked bastard and we plan to pull the bells off his corpse. I think Sakura is pathetic enough to go along with us. If you don't come too, then there won't be a bell left for you to take. If you do come with us, you just need to be faster then Sakura-san. Got it?" Sasuke was pissed, but that didn't mean he couldn't think. Sakura would definitely go with Ky if he threatened her; she had no backbone. Naruto had just displayed his speed and strength and Sasuke had a feeling that Ky was stronger even though he was a bunshin. If they used Sakura as a distraction, they could probably beat their sensei and take the bells. That left one question; what would they do with the second bell? If they gave it to Sakura he could easily take it from her, but if they decided to keep them both…

"I'm in. What's the plan?" Naruto smiled. He had him.

"I'll have to let Ky explain."

* * *

"That's the plan?" Sasuke seemed bemused. It was simple to the point of genius. It was so simple that no self-respecting shinobi would ever do it, so no self-respecting shinobi would ever expect to have it happen to them. Sakura seemed was still not sure if their plan was genius or insane. She also felt slightly dirty at the thought of using such a plan. 

"It'll work, but we need to move fast. So that's all the money the three of us have, right?" Ky was greeted by three nods.

"Right then. Naruto, get your bunshin over there." A clone of Naruto started to run towards the village. Ky couldn't keep the smile off his face. This was going to work like a charm. Sakura still seemed apprehensive.

"Are you sure this is alright? I mean, this is pretty bad." Sasuke was the one to answer.

"He said anything goes, and I'm certain this falls under 'anything.' We're following the rules, so there is no problem. I am concerned about your take on the test though, Naruto-san. How do you know that he doesn't care who gets the bells if we get them as a team?"

"I don't, but why do you think they put us in cells? I can't help but think he wants us to show teamwork, so as long as we get the bells and don't kill each other, we'll be fine." His reasoning did make sense, but Sasuke was still not sure. He would make sure he did get a bell, just to be safe.

"But what if no one will do it? I mean, this is pretty low."

"Haruno-san, quite your damn whining. We sent 12 000 yen. Someone is bound to take that money. If I was a chick I would."

"Have you no shame Ky?"

"Not really, no." Naruto coved a laugh and Sasuke looked amused. Sakura was shocked. A boy without shame. What could he have done when he rescued her?

"Ky, did you do anything to me while I was in the genjutsu?" She spoke with a menacing voice, making it clear that if the answer was not to her liking she would begin tearing off heads. Which heads were not exactly specified, but their necks weren't the main targets, if you catch my drift. (If you didn't get that joke, you shouldn't be watching anything above PG-13 movies.) Ky brushed her off before answering.

"Why would I grope a freak in her sleep? I may have no shame, but I do have self respect." Sakura snapped. How dare he? With ungodly speed and strength the pissed girl drove her fist deep into Ky's stomach. The bunshin was left spitting blood and gasping for breath. He was considering releasing himself, but his chakra boosted bunshin body didn't release automatically and he wasn't sure he wanted to disgrace himself by doing it himself.

"A freak, huh?" Ky's nose was introduced to a vicious amount of pain as the still pissed girl drove her fist straight into his face. Blood was gushing down his face and an excruciating amount of pain was shooting across his face.

"Call me a freak again, why don't you? Do it, you bastard!" Sakura was pulling her arm back, preparing a finishing punch strait at Ky's lower (and arguably more important) head. It was at this point that Naruto took pity on his friend and released the jutsu for him and recreating him behind Sasuke. Sakura's punch went through a cloud of smoke and carried itself halfway into the stone Ky had been sitting on. The girl's anger seemed to be lessening little by little, draining itself out of her body. She didn't see Ky again until her anger had been removed entirely. The three boys looked in shock. They had no idea that this girl could be so strong. Sakura looked up and saw the looks the three boys were giving her.

"What?"

"You just drove your fist halfway through a bolder without using chakara. Why the hell couldn't you do that back at the Academy?" Sakura blushed.

"It's something I picked up from my mom. Whenever I get really mad or upset I tend to become a little, well, violent." Ky nodded in complete agreement. The three of them made a conscious note to never piss Sakura off more then they had to. Suddenly, an orange and black blur appeared in between the three of them.

"I got someone!" Naruto's bunshin began telling everyone exactly what he had done. All present began to smile, even Sakura.

"Let's go get good seats."

* * *

Kakashi discovered with shock that he couldn't feel his student's presence. It was amazing for a genin to hide their presence completely, but these kids seemed to be full of surprises. Next thing you know they'll be summoning something. 

Kakashi was looking aroundwith a calm demeanor. They were the ones being timed, not him. They probably had less then ten minutes now and they hadn't attacked in the last hour. He could only guess they were setting up traps somewhere.

The silver-haired nin pulled out an orange book and began to read as he ran back to the logs. He figured that would be where they would show up after the timer went off. As he reached the logs, he heard a splashing sound coming from the river. He shook his head. Not very discreet, were they? He ran off in the direction of the noise. What he saw stopped him in his tracks.

A beautiful woman was naked, bathing in the river. Her back was to him, but Kakashi could tell that her chest was rather, well, large. She had her dark hair up in some kind of band at the back of her head. Her skin was glistening in the water, making it look very smooth and succulent…

Kakashi shook such thoughts from his head. He was testing his genin team. He shouldn't be spying on a young, beautiful, and naked woman bathing in a river, rubbing herself to get clean, maybe touching herself a little... The women turned a little and revealed a black patch on her left shoulder. Was it a tattoo? Suddenly, Kakashi knew who was in that stream and decided it was time to get the heck out of Dodge. He had to get away very quietly, or else he was screwed. One step back, two steps back, a third step back.

_Snap_

Kakashi winced as he stepped on a dry twig, making a distinct loud noise. The instance the sound went off, Anko's neck spun fast enough to snap a lesser man or woman's. As her eyes fell on the orange-book reading shinobi, Anko silted her eyes. Kakashi began to walk back at a faster pace now closing his eyes and rubbing the back of his head. He was trying to give the impression that he was a simple victim of happenstance and from Anko's growing rage and aggressive steps forward, it appeared to be failing.

"Kakashi-kun, why exactly were you watching me as I was taking a bath?" Her voice sounded sweet and innocent, but held undertones that showed her as a vicious, cold blooded killer. Only two words were being held in the man's mind: Oh Shit!

"Ano… I wasn't watching you, Anko-chan. I was just testing my genin team here and I heard you so I thought you might be one of my students so I came over and… Ano… Well… I saw you so I tried to leave… But as I was leaving I stepped on this twig and… Ano…" Anko had almost walked completely out of the water, revealing more than any decent woman should. Kakashi was having a hard time keeping his eye on her face as he tried to get his explanation out. His eyes seemed to naturally gravitate further and further down her body each time before he could stop himself. He did see that Anko's grin was getting wider with every look he stole. That couldn't be good.

"So, your team is out here somewhere and you lost track of them. While you were trying to find them, you accidentally found me bathing here, completely naked. Does that sound about right, Kakashi-kun?" The sweet way she was saying his name made Kakashi feel even more nervous. He knew running meant instant death and staying could very well mean death as well. He was up that proverbial creek without a paddle.

"Yes, that sounds right Anko-chan. That's exactly what happ… oufff!" Kakashi was cut off as the woman's forearm smashed against his windpipe. He was pinned to a tree by the neck and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. Anko's grin had grown into a full-fledged sadistic smile. If not for his training in ANBU he might have shat himself. As it was, he was only quite moist around his crotch.

"Gee, that's to bad Kakashi-kun. I would hate to have to kill you because of a mistake." Her knee had found its way straight between Kakashi's legs. To the man's credit he didn't utter a word of pain. Instead, his visible eye just rolled up into the back of his head and he fell to the ground. Still smiling, Anko went to pick up her clothes by the side of the stream. As she was getting dressed she saw four young shinobi searching the fallen body for something.

"You kids find them yet?" Anko inquired as she pulled her coat on. The boy with orange sleeves that she had spoken to earlier waved back happily.

"Yeah! Thanks a bunch, Anko-sensei!" The woman smiled. She had thoroughly enjoyed scaring the living hell out of Konoha's famous Copy-Nin. It was the small pleasures in life that made it worth living. Now she'd just wait and see if Kakashi was going to wake up before she went and spent her newly earned 12 000 yen on some fresh dango. Not bad for ten minutes work.

"Oi, if you didn't get the bells, what was he going to do to you guys?" Anko suddenly had a very dark idea. True, she had planned for him to see her naked, but she still felt like hurting him for the view.

"He said he would tie us to a training log and we wouldn't be able to eat lunch." Sakura explained as simply as she could. That ruthless attack had somehow excited her. To see a kunoichi beat such a strong man so easily was something worth idolization. The Jounin began to explain her evil idea completely unaware she had just become a hero in the eyes of a young girl.

"You kids probably don't know this, but this guy is a bit of a pervert. He reads this orange porno book all the time. In fact, he never goes anywhere without it. Listen up, because this is what we're goin' to do…"

* * *

It was a dizzying feeling, not entirely unlike the morning after a rather large drinking session. His head was groggy and he didn't think he could move his arms. The bright light hurt his uncovered eye. Squinting, Kakashi began to take in his surroundings. Oddly enough, the only things he could see were two bright balls, reflecting light straight into his eye. Squinting even harder, he began to make out those balls as bells or more specifically his bells. Looking down he saw that he couldn't move his arms because they were tied to the log. It was expertly done. There was no way he was going to be able to untie himself. 

"Why am I tied to a training log?" He directed this voice to the four standing in front of him. Naruto and Ky were holding one bell and Sakura and Sasuke were holding the other. So it was with reasonable surprise as the answer came from the back of the log.

"You're tied down because you don't have a bell, Kakashi-kun." The masked nin paled visibly. He knew that voice. As if to confirm it, Anko jumped on top of the log and bent over Kakashi's head, smiling upside-down into his face.

"So, do we pass, Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke spoke with what seemed an almost unconcerned voice. In fact, he almost didn't care anymore. Seeing this woman beat the living shit out of his sensei had been worth going back to the Academy for a little longer.

"Ano… I'm not sure. The test was supposed to test your teamwork. Instead, I chanced upon Anko and you used the opportunity to take the bells from my unconscious body."

"No teamwork? None of us had the money to pay Anko-sensei on our own! We had to pool our money! Don't you dare say that wasn't teamwork!" Naruto's words caused Kakashi to start a little.

"Wait, they paid you to fight me?" Anko smiled treacherously.

"Yep. They paid a nice amount, too. Sorry, but a job is a job." Kakashi sighed. If his students were willing to work together to bring in a third party, then that was enough teamwork for him. Evil bastards.

"I guess you all pass then."

"Yatta!" Naruto and Sakura both leaped into the air in exhilaration. Ky and Sasuke were content with showing smug grins. Both were mentally enjoying the beating Kakashi had received. Sakura stopped cheering and ran up to Anko. She tried to dust herself off and make herself look as dignified as possible before asking her question hopefully.

"Ano, Anko-sensei? Do you think you could become our team sensei, too?" All present were a little astonished at the question and all had mixed feelings about it. Naruto and the boys seemed thrilled. Not only would they be working with a beautiful woman, but she could easily keep their lazier sensei in check. Kakashi was a little frightened. If she became his partner, who knew what kind of problems would arise in the future. As for Anko herself, she was simply stunned. She had never considered becoming a teacher, especially after remembering her own. But for some reason this girl seemed hopeful to be working under her. It was a new experience, being admired, and not an unpleasant one at all.

"Sakura-chan, I'm sure Anko-chan has lots of her own work to do, so it would be unfair for us to ask so much of her…"

"Sure, I'm in. Kakashi and I will have to talk to the Hokage tonight to make it official, but I say that it sounds like a plan." Kakashi's jaw dropped, or at least it appeared to drop behind his mask. This was too much.

"Listen Anko-chan. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I really think that a team of five might be too big."

"A team of five is little different from a team of four. I said I'm in and nothing is going to change my mind. Besides, this will give me a constant paycheck. My dango supply has been running low recently, so I could use the money. I would hate for you to get in between me and my dango, Kakashi-kun." The masked nin began to panic.

"No, no. That's fine with me if it's fine with Hokage-sama." Anko smiled.

"I thought you would see it my way." Anko and the newly appointed genin turned and began to walk away.

"Excuse me. I believe you all forgot to untie me." Anko turned her head back, grinning. The same two words range through Kakashi's head as last time: _Oh Shit._

"Didn't I tell you, Kakashi-kun? You didn't keep a bell, so you're all tied up. But, I figured you already ate, so I left your punishment on stone in front of you." Unsure of what she meant, Kakashi look in front of him. A look of pure terror shot across his face.

"Why is my Icha Icha Paradise book on fire?!" Anko let out a laugh as she began to run. Her new students began to follow. Ky was the first to speak.

"This could prove to be interesting." Naruto smiled and nodded in agreement. This could be very, very interesting. He listened to Kakashi's long stream of death threats muffled by Anko's perverse laughing. These could prove to be very interesting times.


End file.
